Tame Four, a Battle Royale Fanfic
by Indigo Rosebud
Summary: [Battle Royale] Three years after the events of BRII a new group called the Tame Four has been causing the government trouble. Meanwhile, a new class has been chosen for the program and one of the students might know more than he lets on. OBR, Slight AU,
1. Shiroiwa, present day

Chapter One-

The small red ball flew up in the air and began its decent to earth until it was caught by the hand of Elleanor Wargave. She was lying on her back in the fresh green grass, using her packed bag as a pillow and throwing her little red ball up in the air and catching it. The huge statue comemorating the Battle Royale which had taken place at her school towered over the students, providing them with shade. This school was the same school which had held the notorious Shuuya Nanahara, who joined the Wild Seven after surviving a Battle Royale. The bus ready to take the class on their ninth year class trip rumbled nearby. The buses left as soon as everyone in the class had gathered, and now Elleanor's class was the only one left. Fortunately, they were only waiting for one more student. Kohaku, one of Elleanor's best friends, had told his teacher that he would be late, so no one was surprised. Elleanor had called him on his cell phone and he said he was on his way, although she thought that she had heard crying in the backround. This came as no surprise to the rest of her friends, Kohaku's parents were legendarily protective since his older brother drowned six years ago.

The rest of Elleanor's friends were seated a few feet away talking over the day's newspaper. Tenchi was holding the paper as the quadrupletes, Lin, Rin, Kin, and Jin were gathered around him, peering over his shoulder. Kubo was seated cross-legged nearby, playing with a blade of grass. Unari, the boy whom Elleanor had the world's biggest crush on, was about four feet from Tenchi. He had his arms wrapped around his girlfriend Sacula who was kissing him in return. This was the main reason that Elleanor had seated herself far from her friends. She glanced over at the newspaper and saw the headline shining through, big enough for her to decipher. It seemed like there had been another attack from the Tame Four.

After the Wild Seven had disbanded three years ago, a new terrorist group had sprung up which called themselves the Tame Four. Due to their name, a connection with the Wild Seven was assumed, but never proven. No members of the Tame Four had been identified since they all wore black bodysuits and black mesh hoods. Another difference in the way they opperated was that the Tame Four attacks hadn't taken any lives yet. Their targets seemed to be military computer systems, which were subject to numerous hackings, and military ammunition, which was constantly being stolen, detonated, or would refuse to go off.

The noise of a car engine had broken into Elleanor's thoughts as she saw her friend Kohaku climb out of the back seat and wave to her. She returned the wave, although Kohaku was still fifty feet away Elleanor was easy to recognize. She was the only one in her class who didn't descend from Japanese ancestry, her mother was Swiss and her father Polish. This gave her brown hair, hazel eyes, and the ability to really stand out in a crowd. Usually it was something she minded but being recognized by Kohaku was okay. Besides, she voluntarily wore black leggings under her uniform skirt since she jumped around a lot so blending in wasn't her highest priority. Kohaku rushed a few appoligetic words to Izumi Natsuno, their teacher, and then ran over to his friend as Class 3-C boarded the buses and sat down.

Elleanor was in a window seat near the back with Kohaku beside her. Unari and Sacula were in front of them which wrenched Elleanor's stomach, last thing she needed was to see them make out the entire trip. Unari was usually a great person and real easy to talk to and laugh with, but he seemed to be another person around Sacula. As the bus pulled out of the parking lot, Elleanor looked around to see Kohaku's parents standing near their car, huddled together and crying like they were witnessing their son's funeral. Kohaku leaned over Elleanor to look outside and sighed, giving his parents a halfhearted wave.

"I wish they wouldn't make such a big deal about this..." Kohaku was obviously not elated by his parents behavior.

"Is there something wrong?" Elleanor and Kohaku were both rather unpopular, and they had been close friends confiding in eachother since Elleanor moved to the town four years ago.

"No, it's just... you know how my parents get sometimes.."

"Yeah, but for this? It's only a small class trip, what's the worst that could happen?" As soon as she said the sentence, Elleanor regretted it. The look on Kohaku's face changed to something she couldn't read, but he was looking more like his parents. The two friends sat in silence as the bus rounded the corner and the two grieving adults passed out of sight.

42 students remain


	2. The Ride

Girls:

1. Hikari

2. Hikaru

3. Akako

4. Rin

5. Kin

6. Jin

7. Lin

8. Sacula

9. Hana

10. Reiko

11. Haruka

12. Elleanor

13. Minako

14. Hanabi

15. Sora

16. Mimiru

17. Rumiko

18. Umi

19. Fuu

20. Ami

21. Kamome

Boys:

1. Kubo

2. Akimaru

3. Haku

4. Tenchi

5. Kiba

6. Tatsumatchi

7. Kiyo

8. Dosu

9. Shinji

10. Miko

11. Kisho

12. Unari

13. Kohaku

14. Yoshi

15. Mamoru

16. Taku

17. Shun

18. Kenta

19. Takashi

20. Kenichi

21. Hibiki

Chapter Two, The Ride

About five minutes after the bus turned the corner, most of the students had started to liven up in expectation of several hours with nothing to do. Friends were chatting with eachother and the low hum of cd and mp3 players each playing a different song was clearly audible. Elleanor was staring out the window while next to her Kohaku was staring at his shoes, deep in thought. In front of them, Sacula and Unari were sitting holding hands, laughing at Tenchi's jokes and exchanging the occasional kiss on the lips. Even Elleanor would have to admit that they looked like the perfect couple. Tenchi and Kubo were across from the two lovebirds. Tenchi was cracking jokes like he was a machine while Kubo had his nose inside a magazine and was listening to his cd player. Rin and Kin were seated in front of them with Lin and Jin in the back. All four of the identical quadruplets were laughing at Tenchi's jokes. The rest of the bus were busy hanging out with their own cliques. Near the front, Izumi Natsuno was stretched out across two seats, busy being bugged by her younger brother Takashi and his girlfriend Minako. All in all, they were a normal class on the bus. All that changed when people started to fall asleep.

Elleanor first noticed something was up when she felt Kohaku's body slump against her. Her head was jerked back into reality when she saw her friend fast asleep. Kohaku had never fallen asleep on a bus trip as far as Elleanor could remember. Hell, she hadn't seen the kid fall asleep during the most boring class lectures It was like he had an immunity to naps or something. Looking around, she saw about half of the class asleep. The only person around her still awake was Unari, whom she promptly prodded in the neck. He turned around, slightly disturbing the head of Sacula which was resting asleep in his lap.

"Whazizit Elle?" More students were falling asleep, but Izumi and the bus driver seemed unaffected.

"Every... evriuns falling asleep..." Now Elleanor could feel her own eyes getting heavy. Something inside of her was saying that this was wrong, but it was quickly silenced by a need for sleep. Unari was sleeping now, his head was laying back a few inches from Elleanor. She tried to lift her own head up, but it seemed to have gained about twenty pounds. She fell forwards into darkness, her last sensation being Unari's spikey hair brushing up against her face...

_Krissy! My parents'll get mad if we go on this bridge! Stop pulling on the leash Krissy!_

_Why Hello there, what a pretty dog. _

_Oh! Sorry ma'am, I don't know why but my dog seems to like you, I hope you don't mind..._

_Kohaku's friend, and my kindred spirit.. I have been keeping an eye..._

_Wait! Tell Kohaku what! How do you know him, why would a twenty-something woman be interested in my friend, who are you! _

_I need you to look after Kohaku, and present this message to him. Hopefully you will never find out why..._

_No- don't jump!_

_I was the one who gave you that locket_

_Motorcylcle... she jumped on a motorcycle.._

_I hope you will never need to know..._

Elleanor froze, her thoughts on her strange dream. It was about that woman.. the one she had seen many times over the last few days, and whom she had run into, quite literally, while walking her dog. Suddenly, she realized that something had gone horriably wrong. She wasn't supposed to be sitting in a desk, she was supposed to be in a bus.

Lifting her head up, which had lost its extra weight, Elleanor was able to look over the situation. Her entire class was sitting in their desks in the same formation as in their class. The students were either asleep or looking around the room like Elleanor. Izumi was no where to be seen, but a handsome man looking to be in his mid-twenties was standing at the head of the class. Everyone was wearing a strange metallic colllars, and a quick touch of the neck confirmed that Elleanor had one on too. A strange, unearthly noise erupted to her right as she turned around, afraid of what she would see. It was Kohaku. He was curled up in his seat, whimpering and crying. The look on his face was a combination of both terror and utter disbelief. That's when it started to sink in for her, but the final blow came when the man opened his mouth.

"Welcome students of Class 3-C, you get the wonderful privalage of participating in this year's Battle Royale! Let's let the games begin!"

End---


	3. Big Sister

"But enough of my chit-chat." The man up at the from desk had raised his voice again.

"This beauty of a video should tell you everything you need to know." And with that he popped Oneesan's video into the player.

As it played, Oneesan's words were the last breath of normality for the students. This was the legendary video they showed to all victims of the BR act. Now they were seeing it, and all their life up to this point boiled down to the few survival skills gained. Most of them watched it in quiet, digesting Oneesan's words. On the other hand, Kohaku seemed to be getting worse. His small frame was doubled over while grasping his knees, and was making a pitiful sound remindant of a wounded and cornered animal. The video seemed to be making it worse and he was starting to resemble a victim of psychological tourture that was brought before the school to show the children what could happen if you disobeyed the government. The video was almost halfway done and...

"Enough! Turn that stupid thing off! Can't you unfeeling pieces of shit see what the hell you're doing!" Elleanor had gotten out of her seat and ran over to Kohaku, who was next to her. She held his head against her chest and cradled him as he cried and whimpered. Her eyes were full of hatred aimed at the man standing at the head of the class. He smiled with cruel amusement and turned of the TV with a flick of his remote.

"You need to learn your place here girl, and not to talk while your big sister is talking. Did you know that in eighty-five percent of Battle Royales, one or more students were killed by the teacher before the game began just because they pissed him off? If your profile didn't indicate that you were such an amusing character I'd make that eighty-six right now, so hold your tounge!"

The two of them exchanged sharp glances in a few seconds were the only noises were Kohaku's stifled sobs. Elleanor gently ruffled his hair and set him down in his seat. He cried alone for a few more seconds while Elleanor seated herself, all the time keeping an eye on her friend. An awkward silence existed for a few more moments before Takashi, boy number 19, raised his hand.

"Excuse me sir, but could you tell me what happened to my big sister?"

"Takashi Natsuno, is it? Thanks to your strange friend here, the rest of her message cannot be seen. All you need to know that hasn't been said yet is that Big Sister will be giving you each a random weapon which you will use in your battles."

"No, not her, I meant Natsuno Izumi, our teacher and my actual blood sister. I haven't seen her since I fell asleep on the bus."

"Well, that most certainly is a good question, the joy of meeting such a wonderful class for this year almost put her out of my mind. You see, while all of you were napping, the two of us were having a good time. Your sister didn't want her class, and most importantly her little brother, to become involved. Forty-five percent of teachers are as outspoken as her, and I was hoping she'd be one of that crowd. You see, if they object too strongly, we get to do whatever we wish to them. Of course your sister would have no desire to go at it with an utter monster like me, so she needed some persuasion which I highly enjoyed. You don't have much choice when you are tied so tightly that the binds cut into your skin and your lover is cutting you with a beautiful knife. Bring her out boys!"

As Takashi gripped the table with his knuckles turning white, two armed guards wheeled out a stretcher. A body was lying on it, covered in a white sheet. With a smile, the man grabbed the pure white cloth and yanked it off, revealing the mutilated body of the class' teacher and Takashi's sister. Her hair was askew, her clothes were ripped, and she was leaking blood everywhere. She was dead, and it looked like a painful death. Both Takashi and his girlfriend Minako stood up, rage on their faces.

"You… I'll kill you for this!"

"Takashi, wait! We're going to fight him together, together we will make this monster pay!"

The two lovebirds turned back at the class one last time and gave them a friendly look, as if saying goodbye. Then they dashed off towards the monster standing at the edge of the room with their fists held high. Neither of them had been much of warriors before. Minako was the motherly type, always looking out for the weaker girls in the class while Takashi was just a joker filled with youth. They were now the first to change from 3-C because of the BR act, but chances were that they wouldn't be the last.

"It's going to come... the beeping's gonna come.."

"Huh?" Elleanor was paying too much attention to the unfolding scene that she didn't notice her friend's muttering.

"The beeping's gonna come now, and they're gonna die..."

"What are you saying Kohaku?"

But before either of them could say a word, an ominous beeping noise came from Minako's and Takashi's collars. The two stopped in their tracks and, seeming to have a faint premonition, smiled at eachother. They pulled eachother together for one last kiss, Takashi flipped off the man at the head of the class, and then their collars exploded. Most of the class screamed as blood spurted from the holes in Minako's and Takashi's throats. Both Minako's beautiful, dark and long hair and Takashi's short, spiked and dyed blonde were matted with the splashes of their blood, their ebony eyes frozen in an unreadable expression. Still, they were holding hands in a loving grip.

"Kohaku! How did you..." Elleanor stared in wonder at the small boy, how could his prediction have come true to the letter? What would her timid friend know about the Program?

"Now then! Hopefully you are all wiser to what will happen if you become too rebellious. You are here to fight in the Program, not to try and destroy it! So far, every participant who has tried to bring the Program down has died a most painful death, so let this be your warning!" The man's cruel voice had cut into Elleanor's question.

"Now we will send you off, but I forgot to introduce myself! Just call me Nanashi." Half the class already had in mind something far less decent to call the man. "Now then, we will start with girl one, Hikari! Grab your things and off you go!"

40 students remain

---End


	4. Exodus

Hikari slowly stood up as she was the first one called. She wasn't used to being the center of attention, but now everyone was scrutinizing her. She would be the first person to leave this makeshift school, the last bastion of normality, and she was going to be the first to enter the dark and cold world of the Program in the forest around them. She wasn't much of the survivor type, she was cute, sweet, always ready to brighten some one's day, and she was also the second shortest in the class with Kohaku being the first. Her hair was parted above her right hear and hung cutely around her neck. Her knees were visibly shaking as she walked up to get her things. Nanashi handed her a bag with "Girl 1" sewn on the strap and her personal bag that she had brought on the bus. Hikari then turned back to the class and gave them a small, pitiful smile. For some, it was a final piece of hope until the madness began. She then walked out of the door. Kubo was next, and then Hikari's friend Hikaru. After the students filed out, Nanashi got up and walked over to the camera room.

"There we are, I see that you guys are doing a good job keeping up with the kids. Anything significant happen when they went off adventuring?"

"Why don't you see for yourself. Fuyumaru, rewind the cameras to when Hikari stepped outside."

"As you wish sir, here we are."

Nanashi dismissed his men while he watched the recordings of the children leaving the building. Hikari had hid behind some bushes when she was let out and then she let Kubo, who didn't notice her, walk by. He stayed near the area, watching the door. Hikaru came out next. As she passed near the bush which was Hikari's hiding place, the smaller girl tugged at her ankle. The two friends exchanged quick smiles with each other and left together into the darkness. Tenchi and the quadruplets met up in a small cluster of trees due right of the school. A pre-arranged meeting place while Nanashi was focusing on other matters perhaps? Anyways, after the five of them left they walked out of the range of that camera. When Sacula came out, Kubo revealed himself and waved to her. She met up with him and they went up a hill. The next big thing didn't happen until Hana arrived.

Hana looked around until she saw a small alcove made from the crumbling wall of the derelict school. She bent down and opened her bag, removing a long, cruel, hunting rifle and a pack of bullets. As Hana opened up the gun and loaded the chamber, she muttered something which was mainly unintelligible, but sounded like "have to kill," "not my fault," "not a murderer." As she held the gun ready, the next person too arrive, Miko, came around the corner. He was a tall and thuggish brute, and many suspected he had connections with the Yakuza. He turned around to look at the medium sized, 5'3" girl with her hair always done up in two little pigtails, the girl who loved to dance and held the school record for amount of chili peppers eaten in five minutes, the girl who was notorious for comically finding the funny parts in a bad situation. And then she pulled the trigger and shot him dead.

Still sobbing, Hana checked the gun to make sure it was loaded. Over in the camera room, the men were smiling with glee. They were required to read the case files of the students, and the next person out was Reiko, Hana's best friend. Sure enough, Reiko was then shown walking along the twisted hallways when she saw Miko's crumpled body. Momentarily forgetting herself, Reiko ran and checked for a pulse.

"Nothing, he's dead.. and this one wasn't killed by that monster either. I hate to think of it, but some one in our class took a human life already. I wonder if- Hana!" She jumped up startled as she saw the long barrel of the rifle for the first time with her best friend on the other end.

"You seem so sorry for him Reiko. Why? That's the game, he lost."

"You mean this fight was the game attacking you. Miko played, right? He was trying to kill you and you did all you could in self-defense. That's why he's dead, right Hana?" As Reiko looked into her friend's eyes, she could feel hope slipping away. Hana's eyes were full of madness now, she was lost.

"Sorry Reiko, but only one can live. I'm gonna have to kill you now. No hard feelings. That's the game, and it's the only rule."

"Hana, no!" Reiko ran towards Hana and grabbed the barrel of the gun, trying to wrentch it from her friend's grip. The two girls struggled with the gun for a while as neither seemed able to command complete control of it. Then it went off.

For the next two seconds time stood still as Reiko stared into Hana's now lifeless eyes. The tears flowing down Reiko's cheeks matched the red blood flowing down Hana's that was spilling from the hole in the middle of her forehead. Then Hana fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you Hana, I'm just so sorry..." Reiko passed her fingers over her friend's eyes, closing them. She was about to consider plans for a proper burial when she heard the footsteps of Kisho, the next person due to come out. She grabbed her things and took the day packs of Hana and Miko before she fled into the night. Kisho then stepped out into the open and almost hurled at the sight of the bodies. He thought he saw a girl running off into the dark- maybe Reiko, Reiko always had her hair in that long, single braid to her back. But no, Hana was the dead girl, and not even the Program would make those two fight. They were just too close friends. Feeling slightly guilty, Kisho grabbed Hana's and Miko's personal items before he too ran off.

The rest of the group tended to move fairly quickly, no one wanted to linger near the bodies of those who, just yesterday, had been normal classmates and friends. Elleanor was able to wait for Kohaku, but she didn't mind terriably as he was was the next person after her. Plus he was an emotional wreck There was no way she could consider herself a friend if she left him to face the Program alone in his current state. But everyone who left after Hana was taken over by the Program, whether they were great pacifists or were planing on playing, were forced to contort their faces in disbelief that people whom they had known so long had killed, and were capable of killing again.

Of course, Nanashi knew nothing of this. Once he had heard that Hana's and Miko's deaths were the only ones besides Minako and Takashi so far, he had left to go to the rest of the crewmen and collect the money of those who had bet on the losers.

38 students remain

---End


	5. Big Brother

Elleanor and Kohaku ran from the from the school and through the trees. More accurately, Elleanor was doing most of the running. Kohaku, who still looked like a wreck, was mostly being dragged. The brunette girl stopped when she reached a small clearing about twenty minutes away. After a quick look around, she sat her friend and their bags down on the floor.

"There we go, we can use this place as our base for now. Let's see what kind of weapons we have and then we can think of a plan to meet up with any other people we can trust." Kohaku simply nodded and watched intently as Elleanor opened up her bag. She removed a small, black metallic object showing three yellow dots on a screen. Two were near the middle and one was over by the edge.

"Hey Kohaku, take a look at this weird little thing. It's the only thing I remember not on the tape so it must be my weapon. I wonder what it is." Kohaku took a few steps towards her and looked over her shoulder at the screen.

"It looks like the collar detector. The yellow dots are signals from our collars. The two in the middle must be us and the one on the side is some one else." Elle stared dumbfounded at her friend.

"That would make sense, but how do you know all this? You even predicted Minako's and Takashi's deaths, but I don't get how you would know! Your parents don't work for the government, you have no connections that I know of. Either you're psychic like Tenchi or you've been hiding a dark secret in your past, so which is it?" Kohaku sighed, Elleanor was a great friend but she had many quirks, one of them being that she truly believed Tenchi was psychic. Normally Kohaku would argue his point that Tenchi, and the third period Literature teacher were both normal, but now was not the time.

"I'll tell you. Hang on, just let me see what I got..." Elleanor watched the third dot on the radar become closer and closer. It's path took it near their makeshift camp and whoever it was would surely spot them.

"Kohaku, can you hurry up, some one's coming!"

"...No... not this... why... no... Big Brother..."

"Kohaku! What's going on!" Elleanor heard no reply from her friend so she turned around, and had to hold down a gasp of horror. Kohaku was sprawled forwards on his bag and he wasn't moving.

"No, Kohaku! Wha... what could do this.." She ran towards her friend and felt his wrist, breathing a sigh of relief when she found a faint pulse. She knew they had to leave, whoever the third dot was was bound to have heard them talking, but Kohaku's health came first. she hoisted him up under the arms and almost lost control of herself when she saw his face. He was breathing and his eyes were wide open but his face was pale and he wasn't responding to anything. Something had made him faint.

"Well well well, what have we here.." Elleanor turned around to see the speaker. It was Kiyo, an annoying and odious boy who had powerful connections through kids in the other classes. Here, he was nothing. Still, he was holing a katana and all Elle had was her tracker. Kiyo saw, and grinned with a desire for a fight. Elleanor grabbed a long stick on the ground and charged, hoping to take the fight as far away from Kohaku as possible.

The two of them fought for several minutes. Kiyo had an advantage with his sword but Elleanor was on the Kendo team and knew how to counter it reasonably well. As Kiyo cut towards her with an elegant stroke, no doubt picked up on an anime episode, Elle move quick and blocked it with her stick, hitting the blunt side of the sword so it wouldn't cut through the wood.

They entered a deadlock with each one pushing against the other. Their faces were brought close together and it took everything Elleanor had to not mime barfing in Kiyo's face. Instead, she had a plan to carry out. She shifted her weight to her back leg, lifted her front leg up slightly, and delivered a quick, sharp kick to the nuts. He doubled over in pain as Elleanor spun her stick around and whapped Kiyo's wrist, forcing him to drop his sword. Without thinking, her body picked up the sword and ran it through Kiyo's right eye. He was killed instantly.

"Darn it... what did I, how did I.." Elleanor muttered to herself as she drew out the sword and let Kiyo's body fall to the ground. She had killed. She was a murderer.

"No! It was self-defense, he would have killed us both if he had the chance. Besides, he was a horrible person who used his connections to mindless thugs in other classes to bully and extort people. I said.. I said before that if it would be legal for me to kill him, I would." Elleanor sighed, she had justified herself as much as she could but she knew that her humanity had slightly fallen inside her. But there was no way she could stay here. Others would have heard her fight with Kiyo and would come looking for the source of the noise. She checked her tracking device. Nothing so far but Kiyo's dot was the same as both hers and Kohaku's.

"It's the same if you're alive or dead, I wonder if Kohaku knew that too..." Elleanor zipped up all the bags, Kohaku's weapon was far from her mind now. She took the bread and water from Kiyo and tucked it safely in her day pack. She then slung both her and Kohaku's day bags, and their personal item bags, over her back. She made a makeshift holder for her knew sword out of a belt loop on her skirt and she made sure it was easily accessible. After double checking to see if she had everything valuable with her, she picked Kohaku up bridal style and balanced her tracker on his chest where she could easily see it. Then she set off, saying her thoughts aloud.

"Heh, I wonder how many pounds of weight I'm carrying right now. It's a good thing you're so puny Kohaku or else we might be dead. Man am I gonna be stiff tomorrow, if I live to see it... I wonder how you knew all these things.. and why you passed out. I'd like to know that, I could sure use you consious right now. What was it you said before you fainted? Something about your big brother? I know you miss him, you told me that when we met, but what does he have to do with anything now? He drowned six years ago and who knows where his body is, probably still in the ocean.. I'm sorry you were able to bury was that drop of blood from when he cut himself on the nearby rock, but that's all in the past. I thought I knew you well Kohaku, but now I realize you haven't told me the important things. I thought you had since we were close friends since we met, a pair of shy outcasts looking out for eachother. You introduced me to your friends and I took down any bully that came our way. We were always looking out for eachother. And now I find out I know nothing... Huh? What's this!"

Elleanor stopped her chain of thought as she looked at the located resting on top of Kohaku. On it's right outer edge, three yellow dots were visible.

37 students remain

--End


	6. Kobe, present day

Chapter Six, Kobe Hospital for Mental Health

The pink rays of dawn were just spreading across Kobe but already some people were up. A subway stopped at its station and opened its doors, letting out a fresh torrent of people. Among them was a stunningly beautiful woman. Unknown to those around her and even herself, she was the same woman that Elleanor had seen in her dream. She was tall for her ethnic group at 5'7", and she had pitch black hair which flowed to her waist. She was wearing a red tank top, black pants, and red high heels. She had a black purse swung over her shoulder and a slim pair of sunglasses completed the look and hid her identity. As she walked along the street, she kept her gaze on her destination. The Kobe Hospital for Mental Health.

As she stepped in, a bulky guard at the hospital searched her bag. She thought he was going to try and grope her but fortunately for his sake he kept his hands to himself. She walked up to the reception desk and gave the receptionist a warm smile.

"Hello, I'm here to see the couple that came in yesterday. The ones from Shiroira whose son's class was sent to the program? I'm a friend of the family." The receptionist nodded and stood up, directing the woman to follow. After a trip in an elevator and a detour through the halls, they arrived at a blank door. The receptionist nodded and went back to the front desk as the woman slipped in.

"Hello, I'm sure you don't remember me, but I'm a good friend of yours. It's been a while since we last saw each other, hasn't it?"

The question was directed to the two adults in the room. Both of them were a mess. Their now shaggy hair fell over their faces and their eyes showed nothing but a blank. Both of them were wearing hospital gowns and were sitting in chairs on the other side of the room. They were holding hands.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I brought you something you might want to see. Look. Look at these pictures, don't you recognize the people in them? What about these? And this one? Can't you recognize these pictures? Don't you know the people here!"

Despite the woman's protests, the couple stared at her like the pictures that she was holding up were blank pieces of paper. She tucked them safely away in her checkbook, fortunately the guard had the decency to not look in there. She walked over to the couple and gave them a brief hug. Tears were visibly pouring out from under her glasses.

"You.. you really don't remember at all.. you really are lost... I... I'm so sorry.." She wiped her eyes on her arm and exited the room, storming down the stairs instead of taking the elevator. When she walked through the lobby and out of the hospital holding back tears, neither the receptionist nor the guard seemed surprised. They would be surprised later when they checked the security tape and realized the cameras in the couple's room stopped working for ten minutes. The woman wore her magnetic earrings to the occasion. A member of the Tame Four makes no mistakes. But she would have boarded the subway, still fighting a losing battle against her tears, long before the guard looked at the videos. She had other business to attend to.

--End


	7. Sororicide

Lin ran as fast as she could due right from the entrance of the school. Although she was the best runner from her sisters, she was the last of them called. While Elleanor and Nanashi were having their stare down, Tenchi wrote a note to all four of the sisters telling them to run to the right when they left the school. The first one who left, Rin, was instructed to wait for the rest at something that looked like a landmark. So far, Lin had seen nothing of the sort so she kept on running. Suddenly, a strong hand covered Lin's mouth and pulled her under the bushes. It was Tenchi, and the other three quadruplets were sitting near him.

"Hey there Lin, I was just about to go looking for you. You've lost your touch!" Tenchi's calming voice cut right through Lin's fears. She had let the game take over, but she forgot the people that she could count on. Tenchi and her three sisters were the best group members she could have asked for. If anyone would be able to find a way out of this merciless maze, it would be Tenchi. And she and her sisters were together before they were even born. They knew everything about each other and knew how to complement each one's talents and weaknesses. Even though Nanashi had said no one had lived who had fought the program had lived, but if anyone could do it they could.

"So, do we have a plan?" The look on Lin's sister's faces told her that they were thinking the same thing.

"Well, first lets see what we have to work with. What did you guys get for weapons?" The five of them each took out their weapon to show the others. Tenchi had gotten a bow with arrows (a regular bow, not a crossbow,) Rin had a pistol, Kin had a small leather pouch filled with twenty ornately carved throwing stars, Jin had three lottery tickets, and Lin had a sharp, mean looking knife.

"One gun for the five of us. I thought I heard gunshots earlier so we aren't the only ones. If we stick together, we can just use the weapons communally. Now we better get going. I don't want any more people to arrive here and find us. More kids might have had the bright idea of turning right, and they might not be up for playing nice. Just follow me ladies." Tenchi stood up and stretched like some magnificent animal. He was 5'8" and his pitch black hair was puffed up in self-holding spikes. The quadruplets followed. Each one was 5'5" and had their long black hair in two braids. Their glasses even matched, and the models they had were slim and produced an elegant look.

The small group walked through the woods, each one on their own thoughts. Kin smiled as she kept her mind on her plan. She quietly drew out one of her throwing stars and kept at the back of the group where she couldn't be seen. Then she chucked her star into the night where it made an audible noise. The other four jumped.

"What was that?"

"I don't know, but it came from over there."

"It couldn't have been one of us.."

"I'll go and check it out."

The other four turned to Kin as she volunteered. Rin was the next to speak.

"I'll go too, if it's only one person we can outnumber him." Tenchi gave a nod to the pair.

"Ok, each of you take your own weapons. Good luck girls." Kin and Rin nodded before they set off. The remaining three huddled together for at least five minutes. Unknown to them, Elleanor was just at the reach of her tracking device when she saw the dots which represented them. She wasn't going to approach them now. If they were enemies she wouldn't stand a chance. Not with Kohaku in his current state. Just past the limits of the device, Rin was searching for something that could have made the earlier noise. As her mind was engrossed in the search, she felt her gun being pulled out of her hand. Before she could yell in protest, Kin squeezed the trigger and shot her dead.

The gunshot made the other three jump. Tenchi turned on his flashlight and they all rushed to the noise. When they got there, they saw Kin standing over Rin's dead body, shaking...

"She.. she tried to shoot me.. she was playing... she..." After Kin's stuttered out statement, Jin hugged her sister to console her. None of them suspected Kin might be lying, that Kin might be playing the game. Then Kin raised the gun once more, using the shadows to mask it, and shot Jin. She let out a scream and fell to the forest floor, dead. Kin stood up and her disguise fell. The emotionless look on her face told Lin and Tenchi that she was playing.

"Lin, run!" Tenchi's words hit Lin like a slap in the face. She paused for half a second to grab her bags and then took of towards the beach. Kin knew it was hopeless, she could only run half as fast as Lin on a good day. Instead she pointed the gun at Tenchi and fired.

The spiky-haired boy would have breathed a sigh of relief if he had the time. Kin had missed. She fired twice more but there was no hope for her to hit. Tenchi had already ran for the cover of foliage. Kin took a few steps up a climbable tree until she saw Tenchi. She pulled the trigger again but only heard a click. Out of ammo. There were more cartridges in her bag but by the time she slid down the tree, Tenchi was long gone. Well, two out of four wasn't bad, and now she had a gun to go with her stars and two extra servings of food. Smiling and humming a favorite tune of Jin's, Kin skipped back down the path with a smile on her face. There would be many more students who would need her to kill them. And when it was all over, she'd get to go back alone. None of the stupid quadruplet nonsense. It would just be Kin, Kin the individual. And nothing would make her happier.

35 Students remain

---End


	8. Fight the System

Taku was seated on the steps of the shrine indicated on the map on the chalkboard. He was the guitarist in the underground rock band "Fight the System" and he was considered by his band mates to be the leader. The other five band members were Rumiko, Taku's girlfriend and fellow guitarist, Shun the lead singer, Hibiki the drummer, Mamoru the manager and synthesizer, and Kamome, the other female band member who was the quiet keyboarder. Everyone knew Kamome's true ambition was to become an elegant classical pianist, but instead she was stuck hanging around with a scrappy gang of punks who broke the law on an hourly basis. Taku felt a little sorry for her. They had forced her to join Fight the System after their previous keyboardist was arrested and Hibiki had heard Kamome play at the school's annual classical concert.

Taku's thoughts on Kamome were cut short when her saw Rumiko running down the path to the shrine. Taku was able to recognize Rumiko easily, she was the only person he knew who had her wild and frizzy hair dyed bubblegum pink. After Rumiko recognized Taku, she ran up to him as fast as she could and wrapped her arms around him in a circulation-stopping hug.

"Taku! Oh Taku I was so worried! The way those government pigs were looking at me like they would kill me because of my hair.. Oh! Sorry Kamome!" At that moment Kamome had stepped out from behind a tree which blocked part of Taku's view of the path. Kamome's parents worked for the government so the rest of the band tried to tone down their political comments when she was present. There appeared to be no need as Kamome rarely talked or showed any emotion around her band mates. She cried every time during their concerts, when she was playing the keyboard for a bunch of thugs while dressed up in her frilly midnight Lolita outfit. The black of her clothes and hair contrasted well with her pale white skin, and she always drew in the crowds. Now her hair was tied up in a conservative bun, the way it was at school and the way she liked it. She was clutching a rolled up newspaper in her right hand.

"Your weapon?" Kamome nodded as Taku pointed to the newspaper. He sighed and held up a megaphone.

"This is all I have, what about you Rumiko?" The pink-haired girl zipped open her day pack and rummaged inside, drawing out a crusader-style sword.

"Nice! You've got me beat, but I think I'd win over the other two." Shun was showing off his weapon, a pair of gloves with the knuckle area coated with steel. A punch from the scrawny boy could now break a bone.

"Hey there Shun, see any of the others?" Rumiko's cheery voice piped up. Shun had to let out a laugh. Even though they were in a Battle Royale Rumiko was able to keep her upbeat attitude in the way she spoke.

"I'm over here! And you guys won't believe this! Take a look!" Hibiki jumped out of the bushed cradling a machine gun. The other four stared at it in awe.

"That's great Hibiki! With this we'll be able to take down anyone that comes in our way. I wonder if there are any other guns besides the one that killed Hana and Miko.." Taku sat back in his makeshift chair, smiling slightly. The Program's biggest mistake would be handing such a dangerous weapon to one of his band members.

"The answer you're looking for was yes. There are other guns. So what's your big plan oh fearless leader?" The rest of the band turned around to look at their final member. Mamoru was holding an old-fashioned musket in his hands. The band then turned to Taku, awaiting what he would say.

"Well guys, today we're going to do what our name says. We're gonna fight the system! What we need to do is go in a group to the rest of the class, take in anyone who wants to join us, and kill the rest. Then we're going to use whatever we can to make really loud music, something everyone will recognize. The people by the mainland will have to come and see what's up, and they'll find us."

"I have another idea." The band members turned around and stared at Kamome as she spoke. Hibiki had a hard time turning since Kamome was standing right behind him, so he just looked up. Those were her first words since the Program had started. Before any of them could react further, Kamome swung her newspaper on top of Hibiki's bald head. There was a sharp metallic clank as he fell and Kamome grabbed his gun. Taku looked at her newspaper, it had ripped and a shiny silvery object was partly showing through. That explained why Hibiki was lying unconscious on the floor, Kamome's weapon wasn't so useless.

Mamoru shouldered his musket and shot at Kamome, but he was unused to the gun and the shot went wild. This gave Kamome the chance to load the bullets in the gun and strafe fire. Mamoru and Taku both fell down in the rain of bullets, but their bodies protected Rumiko and Shun. Shun just stood by stupefied as Rumiko let out a primitive yell and ran towards Kamome with her sword in the air. Kamome aimed the gun and fired straight at Rumiko, who didn't even stand a chance. Now Shun was the only other band member still standing, and he was frozen in terror. With a quick pull of the trigger, Kamome shot him full of bullets like the rest. She picked up Rumiko's sword and ran it through Hibiki's neck. It wouldn't do to have him waking up later, he was filth just like the rest of them. Stupid filth like the entire class. And this filth was going to be eradicated now, by the Program and by her, the Programs agent. The youth of Japan was going to pay, she would make sure of that.


	9. Psychic Leap

Taku slowly opened his eyes and let out a groan of pain. The last thing he remembered was Kamome with a machine gun, spraying bullets everywhere. She must have hit him, that would explain the pain. She was upset, she was upset that they made her play in the band. This was her opportunity for revenge and she had taken it. Taku looked around. The rest of his band was lying all around the shrine. They were dead and their blood poured over the steps. Taku looked at his own body and it was also bleeding. He would be dead like his friends soon, he had lost too much blood to be saved. As he was thinking of his last words, his eyes fell on his weapon. The loudspeaker. He might not have been able to save himself or his band, but he would do his best to save everyone else from Kamome. Taku tried to ignore the pain as he stretched his hands towards the loudspeaker. He put the narrow end to his lips and took a breath, right before his voice rang out across the island.

"Everyone! This is Taku from the band Fight the System! Kamome, our keyboardist, killed the other members! She.. she hit me too, and I'm gonna die, but I'm not yet! Not before I can tell you! If.. if you see her, kill... kill her..."

Taku's voice fizzled out and went quiet as his eyes glazed over. His injuries had taken their toll as he died. Fifteen minute's walk away from the shrine, Kamome cussed under her breath. Now anyone she'd come across would consider her an enemy. She slipped on the buster-knuckle gloves, they were gothic looking and appeared to be something a student would wear. Then Kamome tucked her machine gun in her skirt, using her belt as a makeshift holster. When she stood straight and made sure she kept her balance, the gun looked smaller and less menacing. The rest of the weapons she dumped where she stood. Hopefully the vermin in need of extermination wouldn't recognize her as the Kamome that Taku warned against until she was close enough. Meanwhile, in a bordering zone...

"Ungh.. Elle... where... where am I... is this a dream..."

"Kohaku!" Elleanor jumped up when she heard her friend wake up. She rushed over to him and nearly crushed him with a hug of relief.

"Gah! Elle! Geroff me!"

"Heh, sorry about that, it's just such a relief to see you up. Now I don't have to lug you around anymore!" Kohaku looked around, noting that his surroundings were different then he previously remembered.

"You really carried me all the way here? How far was it?"

"Well, judging by our approximate distance from certain landmarks, and the scale according to the map, it was about a mile. Heavy work too, carrying you and four bags the entire way. After about half an hour my body couldn't take anymore and I came to the edge of that cliff which is about three feet away from me at the moment. That was about ten minutes ago. Something else, Taku was on some sort of intercom saying that Kamome shot him and that we need to look out for her or something of the like, did you hear that?"

"Yea, I think that's what woke me up. Where did you get the katana?" Elleanor bowed her head in shame.

"It was Kiyo, he came by when you were out. He would have killed us both if I hadn't done anything, this was his weapon..." Kohaku put a consoling hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, you did the right thing. If you weren't there I'd be dead by now, so I owe you one."

"Thanks Kohaku.. what's this?" Another dot had appeared at the end of Elleanor's scanner. Judging by its position it was on the top of the cliff like Elleanor and Kohaku. And it was getting closer.

"Um.. Elle, maybe we should get out of here..."

"Nonsense, whoever it is might be able to help us. We're open to any semi-feasable plan of escape, right?"

"Right. But whoever it is might also want to kill us!"

"And we won't know if we don't find out, right Kohaku?"

"And how are we gonna find out!"

"We're gonna wait here and- shh!" Elleanor and Kohaku quieted down as their new arrival became more than a dot. There was rummaging in nearby bushes which was consistent with the tracker. Elleanor took a few steps forward and strained her eyes to try and get a glimpse of the intruder.

"Hey! It's Umi!" Kohaku froze. Umi was a shy and gentle soccer player and would be a great addition to their small group. Still, she always wore her hair up in a conservative bun and her pale skin made a great contrast against her pitch black hair. Before he could shout a warning, Elleanor stood up and started to wave.

"Over here Umi!"

"Elleanor no!"

Seized with adrenaline, Kohaku grabbed his friend's uniform collar and ran towards the cliff. His charge carried both her and the bags off the edge and they plunged through the trees down the thirty foot drop.

Over in the bushes, Kamome had her gun drawn and was ready to shoot. But when Kohaku started to run towards the cliff, her gun was still safely tucked away. The only way she could have been seen as a threat was if she was identified as herself, Kamome. But Elleanor wasn't able to tell the difference between her and Umi when she was about to attack, so why could Kohaku when he wasn't even looking their way? It didn't make sense, but it didn't matter anyways. Neither of those vermin would be able to survive the fall. And if they did, they were vermin which Kamome wanted the pleasure of extinguishing a second time.

30 students remain

---End


End file.
